276 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



at all. I thank you for the compliment but I withdraw my name 

 as a candidate. 



On motion, duly seconded, the rules were suspended and Mr. 

 Brown was elected by acclamation to serve as treasurer of the 

 Iowa State Dairy Association for the ensuing year. 



The Chairman: That completes the election of officers and we 

 jvill now pass to the next number on our program, an address by 

 Mr. Hugh Van Pelt, Professor of Dairying at Ames. We will 

 now call on Mr. Van Pelt. We are always glad to hear him and 

 I believe we will all profit by what he has to give us. 



SILOS AND SILAGE. 



PROF. HUGH G. VAN PELT, AMES. 



I am glad to speak upon silos and silage at this time because I am 

 sure it means more to the dairy farmer of the great corn belt, of which 

 Iowa is the heart, than most of us have any conception, and in the future 

 the silo will mean more than it has in the past. Commercial food stuffs 

 have been and are advancing rapidly in price. Many by-products valuable 

 as foodstuffs for dairy cattle that a few years ago were cheap are today 

 almost, if not quite, too expensive for the dairy feeder to consider when 

 compiling his rations. The time is present when the farmer must rely 

 more upon his own efforts to produce and preserve upon his own farm 

 those foods that will supply the needs of his dairy herds. He must, in fact, 

 practice intensive farming in the broadest sense. That which in the past 

 was waste will in the future measure to a great extent the profits. And 

 I dare say there is no one thing that could be added to the farm equipment 

 that would promote intensive farming so greatly as a good, well built silo. 

 The silo will make it possible to produce two pounds of milk where one 

 was formerly produced, and in so doing fertilizing constituents will be 

 made available that when returned to the land will increase the yield of 

 grass in the same proportions. These results will be brought about, too, 

 at a less expense than though any other methods of supply feed to the 

 herds were resorted to. 



Like any other farm improvement, however, the building of a silo incurs 

 considerable expense, yet it is quite doubtful whether or not any other 

 building can be built that will have such a large capacity for the storage 

 of roughage as will the silo. For instance, let us compare the space re- 

 quired for a ton of hay as compared with a ton of corn silage. It re- 

 quires, as you are all aware, at least 400 cubic feet of mow room for one 

 ton of hay. For one ton of corn silage 50 cubic feet (one-eighth as much) 

 is required. Therefore eight tons of silage requires only the same storage 

 space as one ton of clover hay, but one ton of clover hay contains 1,680 

 pounds of dry matter and eight tons of corn silage contains 3,360 pounds 

 of dry matter — just twice as much. Therefore, 200 cubic feet of space in 

 the silo will preserve as much dry matter as 400 cubic feet in the haymow. 



